Memorandum device



April 24, 1951 H. s. sHEPARDv Y 2,550,36

MEMORANDUM DEVICE A Filed Aug. 3o. 1949 o INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented AprsZ, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l 2,550,386' i e f MEMORANDUMDEVICF Herman B. Shepard, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Y Application August 30, 1949, Serial No. 4113,093

, f Thisinventionrelates `yto note books or memorandum devicesoffthe loose'leaf type and isan improvement in the invention of my earlier application Serial No. 96,306,1led May-"31, 1949. I VThe principal object of this invention is to` provide a `loose leaf y containery having improved lmeanstojselect andretain `any particular sheet material suchas metal,

of note paper in aposition either for taking notes or forquick'referencethereto. I .f

A" salient feature of this inventionis to provide a vloose leaf container utilizing loose perforated paper leaves and a novel construction and arrangement of plunger or oscillating pin for either in taking notes or making reference theretor will be apparent and readily'understood from the following detailed description of -the pre- Y ferred" embodiment andv a ymodification thereof takenV 'connection withA the accompanying drawing, in which 'i Fig. l is a' front `elevation in perspective illustrating the memorandumdevice in a closed position with`the plunger contracted;

Fig. 2 Visafview similar to Fig. 1 but showing. the device in its open -positioniwith the plunger?` extended and separating certain of the sheets or cards from the 'selected one;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows; Y A

Fig. 4 is a sectionalview takenonthe line 4-"4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows and illustrating'the manner in which the plunger vseparates the sheets;

Fig. 5 isv a cross-sectional view taken kon the line 5--5 of Fig. 3 looking in the "direction of theV arrows and showing'details of the construction of the container or binder portions;

Fig. 6 is aperspective view of a top piece shown in section in Figs. 3, 4 and 5;

Fig. '7 is a view of one of the loose leaves or cards used in the memorandum device; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral IIJ generally indicates the improved loose leaf container` or binder, which may be made of any suitable th 'sideipanels I4 are provided with extensions 216 which are Afolded and overlappedacross the front forming the pocket I2. gThe extensions 23 Aare secured together by means of staples 22 as shown in Fig; 5.

The front panel I8 has a fold line or integral hinge 24 intermediateits length, and preferably below the center line, which forms a hinged cover -flap 26. As shown lbest in Fig. 3 the overlapped extensions 20 terminate at approximately the same height as the fold line 24.

The cover flap 26 may be held in closed positionby a spring'clasp 28 or other means secured to theback I 6. VThe portion of the front panel I8 below the hinge 24 is provided with an elongated vertical slot 33'. The extension naps 29 are similarly slotted `at 3I (Fig.'3)

Secured to theupper portions of the exten-v sions 26 is a small, U-shaped inverted top piece 32 Ywhich/isl provided With a slot 34 in its top portion. 'Underlthe rear portion 3 3 of the top piece 32 'and through the slot 34 is arranged a slidably mounted plungeror bar 36. vThe plunger 36 inof the paper.

When a numberofgthese paper sheets or cards 42 are placed in the pocket portion I2 the slots 44- will be just above the top ofthe flap extenlsions 20 and inV alignment with the top of 'the plunger 36 in its vretracted position.

wood, plastic, berboard,

3 opened the selected sheet will be immediately available. However, the plunger 36 may also be retracted by means of the handle 4l! so that all of the sheets are free, as best shown by Figs. 1 and 3. The container slots 3D and 3| and the slot 34 in the top piece 32 guide the plunger for straight line motion.

A modification of the plunger mounting is illustrated in Fig. 8. In this form the plunger 36 may, if desired, befmounted on .the front portion of the extension flaps and in this modication. the slots 3l will of course be eliminated. While it is not necessary, it is desirable that in both forms of the invention the forward portion. of the piece 32 be cemented or otherwise secured to the inner side of front panel i8 at 46.

It will be readily apparent from the above description that the memorandum device may be put to a large number of desired uses. (For-ex ample, it may contain notes to be used when making a public address, the plunger 36'actingY to hold the book open to any desiredasheet. When used for taking notes it `has a decided advantage over known books or devices in that each sheet'may be used to cover one particular subject, so that at a later time when -additional information becomes availablethe sheets may be'easily removed, re-arranged vand placed back inthe book in any desired order without having to tear orrelease the sheets vfrom cumbersome securing devices. Itis a simple matter to retract the plunger 36, .turn down the pages vnot to vbe used, and push thegplunger through slots 434 to maintain a plurality ofY sheets VMouseparate. As stated, the plunger `may beV left in this position when thecover orf front panel i8 is closed to act as an .index or place marker.

It is-to be understoodithat the memorandum device of this invention Ymay be made vin any desired size, dependingV on vthe particular use. For example, it may be made small -enoughto iit in the pocket whenvused as a memorandum Ypad or address book, or larger for lecture and-classroom use.

For even greater convenience andutility the sheets "i2 may be made of different colors, such as red, blue or yellow, the red sheets used exclusively for appointments, blue forgeneral data,

and yellow for lecture notes, etc.

Since other equivalent modifications and,

- '-3 and a bottom connecting al1 of said panels, said front and rear panels each being considerably wider than said side panels, and said front panel being formed with a transverse hinge and an elongated upright slot through said front panel and below said hinge, and a sliding plunger mounted behind the front panel for movement from below to above the hinge, said plunger including an operating portion extending outwardly through the upright slot.

2. A notebook comprising in combination a pocket portion, front, rear and side panels extending well above said pocket portion, said front `panel being transversely hinged and provided with an elongated Vertical slot through said panel andl below its hinged portion, paper sheets kor cards of Va size and configuration to nt into said pocket portion and extend upwardly between said front,'rear.and side panels, said paper sheets Or cards having transverseV perforated slots aligned with the front-panel hinge line, Vand means including a plunger'slidably *secured inwardly Yof the vfront panel and lhaving a portion extending through said vertical slot in said front panel for movement of saidiplungerthrough andout of the aligned perforated slots of the paper sheets or cards'to separate any numberof said sheets or'cards.

3. A notebook device for holding loose paper sheets or cards, comprising a rectangular container having front, side and rear panels and a bottom connecting `all of said panels, said front and rear panels each being considerably wider than said side panels, .said'front panel having a transverse fold. line :asubstantial distance below the center line andan Yelongated vertical slot through said` front `panel andvbelow said fold, extensionflapsintegral with said side panels and extending transversely in overlapped relation across the container `adjacentthe front panel, said extension aps Yterminating at approximately the same height-asthe fold line of said front` panehand -mea-ns comprising a plunger slidably secured to'said extension flaps and including a portionv adapted to extend through the vertical'slot in said front panel to manipulate said plunger.

HERMAN B. SI-IEPARD.

REFERENCES .CITED The following Areferencesare of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

